Comments paper - Spain Peer Review on , Denmark 2013

Sustainable ways of preventing homelessness (Copenhagen, 22 November 2013)

Comments paper from Spain1 María J. Aldanas2 Asociación Provivienda3

The situation of homelessness in Spain: special focus on

In Spain, the issue of homelessness has achieved a much higher profile and received more attention in recent times, in line with the political momentum at EU level. Although in contrast to the EU trend, the question of accommodation for homeless people has been approached from the social services point of view, rather than from the housing perspective. The Public System of Social Services is responsible for implementing homelessness policies, both the regional administration (Autonomous Communities) and the municipalities, remain competent in this area and develop their work through the social service centres4. This municipal network is co-financed by the State General Administration (SGA) through the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, through the Basic Provision of Social Services Plan, agreed by the three administrative levels, which includes specific support to the homeless. Along with the municipal social services, social organisations play a major role in service provision for the homeless, partially funded by the SGA. Regarding housing policies, responsibility is shared between all the three levels of government. The State, through the Ministry of Public Works, is in charge of developing state housing plans, of which the most recent is the State Plan of Rental Housing Promotion, Rehabilitation, Regeneration and Urban Renewal (2013-2016). Both communities and municipalities are responsible for the provision of social housing for low-income groups. According to the latest national Survey by the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE) in 20125 22,938 people were homeless in Spain, this compared to 21,900 in 2005, representing an increase of 4.8%. Caritas figures show an increase in the number of homeless people using their services from 24,463 in 2007 to 30,415 in 20116. The average age of a homeless person is 42.7 (37.9 in the 2005 Survey). This group is primarily composed of men 80.3%. As regards nationality, 54.2% were Spaniards and 45.8% were foreign nationals (compared to 48% of the 2005 Survey). 89.0% of homeless persons slept in the same place every night. 43.9% slept in group accommodation (43.2% in a hostel or residence, 0.5% in shelters for women victims of violence and 0.2% in centres for refugees). Another 20.8% slept in flats or pensions provided by NGOs or other institutions, and the remaining

1 Prepared for the Peer Review in Social Protection and Social Inclusion programme coordinated by ÖSB Consulting, the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) and Applica, and funded by the European Commission. © ÖSB Consulting, 2013 2 In collaboration with Clara I. Barraca Goicoechea, from Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality 3 Member of fePsh, Spanish Umbrella of Associations supporting the homeless. 4 A current reorganisation of government in process will affect Social services. 5 Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE). 2012 Survey to Homeless People. The definition of homeless used by INE does not correspond with ETHOS typology. 6 VV.AA, 2012, Cáritas Española, Acompañandonos. Mirada, Acción y propuestas de Cáritas con personas que están sin hogar. Red de programas de personas sin hogar de Cáritas.

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Comments paper - Spain Peer Review on homelessness, Denmark 2013

35.3% stayed outside of the existing care network, either in public spaces (14.9%), in make-shift accommodation (12.8%) or in squats (7.6%). There is no official statistics regarding rough sleepers although a Caritas report estimated7 some 6,000 to 10,000 people slept on the streets in Spain. Periodic homeless counts are conducted as well specially in large cities such as the recent ones in Madrid8 and Barcelona9. The traditional profile of homeless people showed in surveys was a man of a certain age, single, with alcohol abuse issues, socially disadvantaged and with low level of education. The 2012 Survey data from INE show there are “new entrants” to homelessness. In respect to this change, if we look at the main reasons of homelessness, more people became homeless as a consequence of job loss (from 30% in 2005 to 45% in 2012), or failure to pay for their accommodation (from 11.4% in 2005 to 26% in 2012) while other reasons like relationship break-ups remained almost unchanged (20.9%). Regarding completed studies, 60.3% of the homeless attained a secondary education level, 22.2% primary studies or lower, and 11.8% completed higher education. In terms of health, 30.7% of them claimed to have a chronic illness. It is worth noting that 16.6% of these suffer from some kind of mental disorder and 15.2% of them had a recognised disability. As for drug use, 62.7% stated that they had never used drugs, and 37.3% had used them at some point. In contrast to this scenario, the Danish context profiles have higher prevalence of mental health problems, drug use, or both. Similarly, service providers working with the homeless have witnessed the apparition of new profiles. In particular, an increasing number of homeless service users are people who are currently unemployed and who have exhausted all available unemployment benefits or other subsidies and entitlements. They often lack family support or families cannot support them any longer. Cases of loss of habitual residence due to foreclosures or non payment of rent are appearing more frequently in the different services, broadening the socio-economic profile of the homeless population. Turning now to the issue of homeless intervention in relation to accommodation, the "Staircase Model"10 remains the prevalent approach in addressing homelessness in Spain. Most services require conformity with treatment and abstinence from drugs and alcohol. The ""11 approach is still not well known in our country and little literature can be found on the subject in Spanish12. In fact, this approach has been known by participation in European networks such as FEANTSA, mainly by social organisations, which have begun to disseminate and discuss the possibilities of implementation in Spain13. Therefore, it is more common to find experiences of the broader concept of "housing led approaches" which places independent accommodation as a key to developing social intervention. To mention just a few of them: in the private sector, the Rental Mediation Programme for disadvantaged groups run by Provivienda or housing management of social housing within the Network of Social Housing

7 2011 Homeless Campaign, Cáritas Spain. 8 IV Homeless Count, City of Madrid, 13 December 2012. 9 Sales i Campos, Albert. 2013, Diagnosi 2013. Homeless people in the city of Barcelona and the evolution of resources of the Network of Attention to Homeless people. 10 In Spain the term ‘itinerarios residenciales’ -residential itineraries-, is used more often. It does not imply a linear intervention; accommodation is used in a flexible manner. 11 “Housing first” in a broader sense: from Pathways to Housing to the other variants. 12 Op. Cit. footnote 6, García-Carpintero Broto, G., Primero Vivienda, pg. 289. 13 VV.AA, 2012, EAPN Madrid, El modelo Housing First, una oportunidad para la erradicación del Sinhogarismo en la Comunidad de Madrid.

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Comments paper - Spain Peer Review on homelessness, Denmark 2013

Inclusion by Fundació Mambre. In the public sphere, a pilot project is currently being designed by the social housing department of the Housing Agency of Catalonia in partnership with different Catalan homeless service providers. Some organisations have begun to implement initiatives in line with the “Housing First” approach by placing people in permanent housing rather than in shelters like the Homeless Support Project in Zaragoza (diocesan Caritas). Although limited and experimental, the RAIS Foundation plans to implement a project that incorporates the “Housing First” approach in several municipalities in 2014. The project adopts an orthodox housing first approach, targeting homeless people with mental health problems, addictions and disabilities in single residential units. The implementation will be systematically tested and results evaluated. As regards the young homeless, the INE data show that 19.3% are young people aged 18 to 29:

INE Surveys 2005 2012

1,535 (13.5% of all Spanish 1,026 (8.2% of all Spanish Young Spanish homeless) homeless) 3,408 (32.4% of all Young immigrants 5,004 (47.4% of all immigrants) immigrants)

All homeless youth 6,539 (29.9 % of all homeless) 4,434 (19.3% of all homeless)

Source: INE data: Surveys 2005 and 2012 designed by fePsh14

Unlike the Danish case, in Spain there has been a decrease in youth homelessness and an increase of the average age of the homeless in comparison to the 2005 Survey. On the other hand, the survey confirms young migrants are disproportionately represented among the young homelessness (both in proportion to the general homeless population and within the immigrant population) although numbers are lower than in the 2005 Survey. Notwithstanding the preceding data, the homeless youth may be difficult to detect and count as mentioned in the Danish host country paper. There is some agreement that some homeless youth situations may be hidden15 as young people do not wish to be considered homeless are reluctant to access traditional homeless services such as shelters, soup kitchens, and clothing services - even refusing the intervention of emergency services. Young homeless individuals staying temporarily with friends, squatting or even living in slums around the cities and on streets are common situations. According to the Observatory of Council for the Emancipation of the Youth, 80% of young Spanish people under-30 are still living with their parents due to the high percentage of their income they would need to dedicate to buy or rent a home. Moreover, late emancipation of the youth in Spain is a trait of the Spanish social model, framed in the Mediterranean Welfare Model where social intervention by the state is less extensive than in the North and Central Europe and people rely more on family16. Thus, strong family networks are providing a social buffer against housing exclusion. The Danish strategy has perfectly identified the number of homeless and the percentage of young people among them. In the Danish case, most homeless people and young people are concentrated amongst individuals with complex

14 Report drafted by the Federation of organisations supporting homeless people (fePsh) as a response to a FEANTSA questionnaire on Homelessness Youth, 2013. 15 Ibid.14: City Council and social organisations working with young homeless in Madrid. 16 Busch-Geertsema, V.; O’Sullivan, E.; Edgar, B. and Pleace, N, (2010) FEANTSA Brussels. Homelessness and Homeless Policies in Europe: Lessons from Research.

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Comments paper - Spain Peer Review on homelessness, Denmark 2013

support needs. The 2012 Survey shows some relevant data about the 18 to 29 age group in Spain: . 26% of the chronically ill homeless youth suffer from some form of mental disorder (172 out of 661). Within this age group, 26.4% were substance users; . Regarding employment status, the majority, 73%, were unemployed; . 21.56% of respondents had only completed primary education, 19.9% had completed secondary education, while 11.2% had some form of higher education; . 5.4% of the homeless youth had been living in a public institution until the age of 18. Although there are young homeless substance users or people suffering from mental illness among the homeless youth in Spain, data reflect a higher number of young people from families in economic poverty or unemployment. Thus, 59% of young people come from families where lack of money was a problem and in 39.3% of cases the young individual had at least one family member in a situation of long- term unemployment. Nevertheless, causes of youth homelessness are complex and cannot be explained by a single factor although some may be more relevant. The primary causes17 of homelessness among youth are: . Relationship breakdown between the young person and their family; . Discharge from institutional care and transition to adult life. The system fails to prepare young people in care for emancipation and to support them adequately during the transition to adulthood; . Other issues such as substance abuse, problems adapting to their environment, disruptive behaviour, lack of positive role models and family conflict; . Low levels of qualifications, high drop-out rates and obstacles to official recognition of education; . Employment instability and low wages. Employment in the grey economy and as a consequence impossibility to apply for unemployment benefits and allowances. In addition to this, specific difficulties are pointed out regarding young homeless immigrants, often connected to their legal status: higher youth unemployment, greater difficulties in access to social services, and, most importantly, lack of economic resources. Generally speaking, youth homelessness does not appear to be a significant issue in Spain while youth unemployment appears to be the real issue. According to data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) 201318, the youth unemployment rate (aged 16 to 24) stood at 54.37% at the end of the second quarter. Young people suffer from precarious employment such as temporary employment or underemployment as well. It is in the area of regular employment where most proposals and policies from the state and the regional governments have been introduced. Social organisations working with the young in the different territories have highlighted the need to accord a higher priority to preventative intervention with youngsters formerly in care. In this field, there are different approaches depending on the region, establishing a range of programmes aimed at supporting and promoting the emancipation of young people leaving care. We can mention some examples such as the Social Support Programme for young adults living on the streets developed by Option 3 in Madrid which performs an

17 Report drafted by the Federation of organisations supporting homeless people (fePsh) as a response to a FEANTSA questionnaire on Homelessness Youth, 2013. 18 Labour Force Survey, LFS, INE, 3rd quarter 2013.

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Comments paper - Spain Peer Review on homelessness, Denmark 2013

intensive educational intervention with young people from 18 to 21 years who are on the streets, homeless, or in the process of transition to independent living without family or social network support and at risk of becoming homeless. This intervention is focused on the acquisition of emancipation skills and adulthood habits. In the same way, the Emancipation Itinerary programmes developed in Zaragoza and Barcelona, offer technical and educational support to youngsters formerly in care or already in care at risk of social exclusion ages 16 to 25, helping their move towards independence. As regards the question of housing for the homeless youth, public housing policies have been ineffective to ensure access to decent housing for a part of the population, since it was confined exclusively to individuals with the economic capacity to acquire it on the market. The lack of comprehensive policies that would facilitate youth emancipation contributes to this situation of homelessness, although there have been some initiatives in this area: . State housing plans included subsidised housing developments for people with low to moderate incomes, housing for specific groups included young people under-35. These provisions were later developed by regional housing plans. However, housing supply was scarce and allocation procedures showed a higher demand; . “Dotational”19 accommodation is linked to urban development and can offer a stable and affordable housing supply ensuring the possibility of emancipation of young people and other groups, developed mainly in the Basque Country, Navarre and Catalonia; . Rental Mediation Programmes for Young people under-35 effectively manage rental supply and demand but also help raising awareness and provide reassurance to private landlords by offering them incentives; . Financial aid for the payment of the rent to low-income youth, such as the Basic Emancipation Rent (recently abolished due to the financial crisis) or the current programme of Aid to rent targeting the general population; . Other local initiatives include the “Municipal Housing Programme for solidarity youth” of Bilbao aimed at postgraduate students who benefit from an affordable rental apartment in exchange for their involvement in social and community activities in the area. Similarly, the "Solidarity Youth Programme" of Alicante encourages young people as agents of local change.

Challenges in preventing and tackling homelessness

As we have been outlining in the previous section, Spain faces different challenges in prevention and care policies for the homeless. We would like to highlight some fundamental aspects which would be necessary to tackle. First of all, the challenges related to the global economic downturn in Spain and its implications in the social field. Since the beginning of the crisis, the poverty rate in Spain has reached 26.8% of the population according to the indicator "risk of poverty and social exclusion". A society with this rate is a fragmented society where social cohesion is threatened. In Spain three million people20 (6.5% of the population) are living in extreme poverty, on less than 307 € a month. Furthermore, in the third quarter of 2013, the number of unemployed amounted to 5.9 million, 25.98% of the population21. According to the LFS, the number of

19 Tejedor Bielsa, J., 2013, Vivienda protegida sobre suelos de dominio público destinados a equipamiento, en http://administracionpublica.com/ 20 VIII Report of the Observatory of Social Reality, Cáritas Spain, October 2013. 21 Labour Force Survey, LFS, INE, 3rd quarter 2013.

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Comments paper - Spain Peer Review on homelessness, Denmark 2013

households with all active members unemployed rose to 1,807,700 (of a total of 17 million households). Budgetary adjustments have resulted in reduced availability of finance for the governments, severely limiting their capacity to maintain social policies. This situation has direct negative consequences on the most vulnerable, including the homeless. Confronted with these situations of unemployment, job insecurity and increased poverty, it is necessary to put in place adequate protection mechanisms to address social exclusion and help prevent the most extreme form of exclusion which is homelessness through employment policies and housing policies with inclusive components and preventative effects. Another challenge of the Spanish State is to implement a comprehensive policy coordinated from state level to address the situation of homeless people bearing in mind the specificities of youth homelessness. Despite the efforts made by all the stakeholders, it is extremely important to advance towards more vertical and horizontal co-ordination between the different public administrations, more interconnection and comprehensive policies involving all different areas (healthcare, education, social services, housing, justice, migration, etc.) and towards the alignment of the different open processes of social protection. With respect to young people, it is necessary to address the most common causes of homelessness among youth to inform prevention and, where appropriate, provide specific housing resources other than the traditional homeless accommodation services. In particular, and based on the findings of previous diagnosis, providing generalised support resources in the transition to adulthood, to prevent homelessness situations generated by discharge from institutional care. In terms of employment, measures to combat youth unemployment have to be strengthened, especially measures for the less qualified youth (appropriate training, flexibility training routes, apprenticeships and internships, significant bonuses, etc). In the area of housing one of the main current challenges is bringing back empty housing22 into social use in order to ensure enough affordable housing for low income households like the youth, who cannot afford housing in the private market. In Spain, we are far from implementing widespread solutions based on the "Housing First" approach. One of the main difficulties is that there is still no consensus on the preference of standard housing to shelters. However, there is a trend towards service providers increasingly offering standard housing for the homeless, as in the city of Barcelona where the number of housing units has increased (almost doubled) between 2008 and 201323. It represents a huge challenge to mainstream the “Housing First” approach to address homelessness due to the different obstacles in the Spanish context: On the one hand, those related to the necessary provision of affordable housing. The Danish strategy emphasises the need for enough housing at local level to get the expected results, which was not always possible. As mentioned before, there is social municipal housing available and, on the other hand, the empty homes could be used for private rental with a social function. Of greater significance are funding constraints in the context of public spending cuts. The implementation of the model implies the need for a major ‘rechanneling’ of existing resources: the Danish strategy required considerable additional expenditure to deliver the multi-professional intervention and the necessary social support that allows the person to remain housed. Finally, the existence of

22 National Institute of Statistics, Census 2011 confirmed 3.4 million empty homes in Spain. 23 Sales i Campos, Albert. 2013, Diagnosi 2013. Homeless people in the city of Barcelona and the evolution of resources of the Network of Attention to Homeless people.

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Comments paper - Spain Peer Review on homelessness, Denmark 2013

entrenched operational modes among those in charge of the design, planning, and implementation of the different homeless policies is another non-negligible difficulty. It would require a ‘mind shift’ among service providers as the new approach implies essential modifications on the ways of delivering services. Regarding the situation of loss of housing due to eviction and foreclosure processes, which in recent years has become a key social and political issue24, it is indeed challenging to strengthen the protection to mortgage debtors beyond the measures already implemented providing for the immediate suspension of evictions for a period of two years for families who are in a particular risk of exclusion (the requirements envisaged in the legislation indicate that the suspension of the evictions on these grounds could be limited) and the creation of the Social Housing Fund25.

Lessons learned

It is extraordinarily difficult to make a comparison between two states as diverse as Spain and Denmark, as differences are substantial from the social, demographic, economic or administrative perspectives. While Denmark is a relatively small country with 5.5 million inhabitants, lower than the metropolitan area of Madrid, Spain is a large state with a much larger population of over 46 million people. Denmark belongs to the Nordic welfares states based on strong social cohesion while the welfare system was implemented later in Spain. Spain is a highly decentralised state which has transferred competences for implementation of social protection to the communities while in Denmark the municipalities have increased their responsibilities in that area. In relation to homelessness, in Spain the issue is strongly linked to more structural problems and relatively weaker benefits for the most vulnerable while in Denmark with a relatively intensive welfare system, homelessness is concentrated amongst individuals with complex support needs. All this makes it difficult to replicate the Danish strategy. However, some relevant aspects would be useful for policy development in Spain: . Firstly, the Danish strategy is based on the strong political commitment of the different levels and areas of government with the participation of civil society; . It seems clear that a public policy committed to a specific intervention model, with all its implications, including adequate financing and full involvement of stakeholders, results in a successful policy; . Another lesson learned is the importance of developing policies in a flexible way, adapting to the lessons from their implementation; . The large scale social experimentation element of the Danish strategy, systematically monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness results, has been extremely instructive; . We found especially enlightening the effectiveness of the policy in terms of housing retention rates as well as learning how the different types of housing worked: scattered independent housing better than collective accommodation always with intensive floating support. Other instructive elements were related to the consequences on institutionalisation of congregate housing and how they could generate harsh environments due to the concentration of vulnerable people which could hinder other processes;

24 From 2008 to 2012 foreclosures dramatically increased: 349.438. Data from the General Council of the Judiciary in the second quarter of 2013: 18,077 procedures: 36.23% foreclosures and 58.23% originated by the tenancies Act. 25 Act 1/2013 of 14 May on measures to reinforce the protection of mortgage debtors, debt restructuring and social rental housing.

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Comments paper - Spain Peer Review on homelessness, Denmark 2013

. The efficiency shown by the Danish strategy could be an additional evidence of the strengths of the “Housing First” model. This experience also shows that it could be more economically efficient than the "Continuum of care" model, especially as a well-planned strategy and the ability to develop evidence-based methods.

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